


listen to my voice, close your frightened eyes

by schrodingers__cat



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, character study through movie choices, fluff !!, movie night !!!, the s1 gang being FRIENDS, this is extremely self-indulgent, tim’s pov bc he’s fun to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25009975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrodingers__cat/pseuds/schrodingers__cat
Summary: “It’s movie night this Friday,” Tim announces soon after Martin starts staying at the archives. “BYOM—bring your own movie!”(aka Tim and Sasha forcibly manipulate everyone into a movie night and everyone gets to be happy, dangit)
Relationships: Martin Blackwood & Sasha James & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 106





	listen to my voice, close your frightened eyes

**Author's Note:**

> this might be the most impulsive and self-indulgent thing I’ve ever written but I hope y’all enjoy 
> 
> (title from Rain Clouds by the Arcadian Wild, which is a bit too dramatic for this fic but I like it anyway)

“It’s movie night this Friday,” Tim announces soon after Martin starts staying at the archives. “BYOM—bring your own movie!” 

He and Sasha had been planning a movie night for weeks anyway, and had just never gotten around to it. The, ah, worm debacle proved the perfect opportunity to drag Martin and Jon into some good old team bonding, even if they had to it kicking and screaming.

Repetitive insistence works perfectly for Martin—yes, they really want him there, they’re putting this on for everyone, they have all sorts plans for it all, that he just _has_ to come. It helps that he’s been terrified of staying at the archives alone for the weekend. Tim can’t blame him, the place is ominous even on the sunniest Wednesday. 

Jon takes a bit more work—but ultimately, some good-old-fashioned guilt-tripping has him sighing and muttering _fine_ into his piles of statements and research. (Never underestimate the power of guilt-tripping on even the grumpiest of overworked bosses.)

They didn’t even bother asking permission from Elias. They just dragged the couch from the break room (with juuuust enough room to squeeze four people onto it) to the only open wall in the archives, where they set up a personal projector Tim had bought on a whim a few years back. 

Sasha—of course—has to show everyone up by turning up in _cute_ pajamas. Tim suddenly feels very underdressed in his ratty old college t-shirt and ancient flannel pajama pants, although Martin turns up in very much the same. Tim had worried that Jon was going to come in wearing full-on silk and a robe or something—but he had nothing to fear. Jon is thankfully wearing completely normal pajamas—as in similarly ancient sweatpants and a band t-shirt that Tim doesn’t recognize. He hadn’t even been sure that Jon owned a single t-shirt, actually. 

That possible altercation avoided, Tim shoves everyone onto the couch. Sasha on the left end, Martin next to her, Tim on Martin’s other side, and Jon on the right end. 

Tim had thought this out very carefully. As much as he wanted to shove Martin and Jon right next to each other, this was their first movie night, so he’ll be merciful. For now. He knows that Sasha hates being squeezed between people, so she always gets an end. Jon also probably hates being squeezed between people, so he gets the other end. It’s the perfect setup. 

Tim’s instincts, he finds, are absolutely correct—if Martin’s quiet sigh of relief is anything to go by when Tim flops into his own place. Jon is apparently trying to become one with couch, pressing into the corner, pulling his knees up and attempting to make himself as small as possible. Sasha has no such qualms, kicking her legs over the arm of the chair, and hoarding the crisps. 

Tim gets up, throws a few random blankets he dug up over all of them—deliberately over their heads—and steps over to the projector, which he’s hooked up to his laptop. He pops in his own movie first— _Monty Python and the Holy Grail._

It’s going to take every ounce of Tim’s willpower to not quote every single line of this movie. He’s absolutely thrilled when Martin smirks and says _same here,_ and the two of them mouth lines back and forth while watching Sasha and Jon’s reactions in turns. 

It’s a close thing at the Black Knight, but Sasha finally cracks at _“Let’s not go to Camelot, ‘tis a silly place.”_ It gets Jon at the _Knights Who Say Ni,_ all of them scrambling to recover their breath after the herring bit. Tim can now rest easy knowing he can spontaneously shout _“BRING ME A SHRUBBERY”_ in the office, and he’s planning on figuring out as soon as possible which coworker knows the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow (it’s probably Jon, and if Jon doesn’t already know, he’s most certainly going to find out). 

Sasha is cawing _“WHAT is your FAVORITE COLOUR”_ as the credits roll, and Martin keeps thoughtfully responding with increasingly vague colours like ‘feldgrau’ and ‘incarnadine’ that Tim has never heard of before in his life, but it’s hilarious nonetheless and he’s forgotten what oxygen is. Jon looks bewildered, mostly, but there’s something resembling a half-smile on his face as he asks exactly _how_ Martin knows those colour names. 

When Tim pops the DVD out of his laptop, Sasha immediately clamors to go next, and practically slams her own disk into the slot before anyone can argue. 

He rolls his eyes as the Star Trek theme plays grandly through the speakers. This has been a point of contention between them for _years._ Tim is first and foremost a Star Wars fan. Sure, he can enjoy a Star Trek movie or two—he watched the _Wrath of Khan_ with Sasha not long after they became friends, and he thought it was great! The issue is that she insists upon Star Trek’s superiority, and that’s simply not true.

Tim could write a veritable _essay_ on why Star Wars is better, but that’s not the point.

The point is that Martin and Sasha are both humming the theme song and saying the intro together, in horrific unison. Tim can hardly hide his disgust—that _traitor!_

A quick glance at Jon is relieving. He’s staring at Martin and Sasha with a vaguely bemused expression and a quirked eyebrow. Probably not a Trekkie, then—thank goodness. 

“I can’t believe those two,” Tim mutters.

“I’ve only seen the first of the movies,” Jon whispers back. “It got a little too... existential for me.” 

“I know, right? But Sasha loves these movies so much,” Tim sighs. “I’m more of a Star Wars man myself.”

“I won’t say I prefer either,” Jon says slowly, still at a whisper, “but I will say I’ve only watched one Star Trek movie—and I’ve seen six Star Wars ones.”

“Gasp! Jonathan Sims, participating in pop culture? The world must be ending.”

“And if you keep going with that, I just might not help you defend the superior movie series when the time comes.”

“Noted!” 

“Both of you, shut up!” Sasha’s whisper is sharp, and they both immediately turn their gazes to the projection. It’s _Star Trek IV,_ which should be interesting—Sasha forbade Tim from even googling the fourth movie months ago. She wanted it to be a surprise, apparently. 

Well.

Boy is he surprised.

All four of them are choking on laughter at the utter ridiculousness of the plot within minutes. The entire thing watches like someone’s time travel au fanfiction. 

It’s _wonderful._

Tim can see why Sasha was saving this one. She was smart, as she always is—it’s ridiculous enough to keep the mood light, but enough of a gateway to let her bring the more serious Star Trek movies later. 

She genuinely loves the sci-fi element. Tim knows this because they’ve spent hours debating the finer points of it—whether the hard-science focus crossed with space spirituality of Star Trek is any better than the fantastical elements and rusted, well-worn appearance of Star Wars. 

She loves the idea of a glossy, technologically-advanced future, of a well-oiled team—a family—exploring the unknown, discovering the impossible. 

Tim will always prefer Star Wars, but he gets it.

The movie comes to a close, but the four of them are still talking through peals of laughter. 

“How—“ Jon sputters, “How does this movie exist? How did no one think of the _implications?”_

“I think the Star Trek people were just there to have fun at that point,” Sasha’s reply is through tears. “Remind me to show you the Leonard Nimoy Bilbo Baggins song.”

”The _WHAT?”_

“I remember the day you showed me that like it was yesterday,” Tim grins, “it was the best day of my life.”

“I’m terrified,” Jon’s expression is painfully genuine.

“You should be!” Sasha claps her hands cheerfully. 

“Ah—would you like to go next, Jon?” Martin interrupts—despite himself, absolutely still grinning at the thought of Leonard Nimoy’s Bilbo Baggins song.

“Sure, sure.” Jon quickly pops his own movie into the laptop.

He brings _Snatch,_ and at first it seems like the opposite of Jon’s kind of movie—Tim’s unfamiliar with it, and it’s got the look of some kind of crime thriller. 

But they’re only a few minutes in and suddenly—oh, yep, it makes sense. Tim watches the fast-talking wit and subtle comedic cues in the music and timing, the incredibly disconnected story threads that somehow weave together into a comprehensive conclusion—and it’s _very_ Jon. There’s another half-smile on Jon’s face when he offhandedly mentions his first time watching, and just how _excited_ he got when he noticed that every character was in a car at the same time. 

Martin is rather scandalized at the general bloodiness of the film, and the way that Tim and Jon both laugh at decidedly morbid scenes framed in a comedic light. Sasha rolls her eyes at them both but can’t quite disguise her own laughter at Brad Pitt’s lovely performance. 

Jon mutters to Tim that he’ll bring _Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels_ next time. 

“We’ll see how their ‘sensibilities’ like a few more rooms of criminal corpses.”

Tim absolutely cannot breathe properly for the next ten minutes straight. Above that, though—Jon had said ‘next time.’ 

Tim is going to make _sure_ there’s a next time.

Martin pops his own movie in last. They’re all getting tired by this point, but Tim is determined to stay awake for Martin, and he’s certain that everyone else is too. Even Jon seems to be fixing his attention to the projection with a purpose. 

Martin pauses his movie before they can see what it is.

“Okay, so, ah—a bit of clarification is probably in order?” He sounds nervous, so Tim bumps his shoulder against Martin’s in support. He can see Sasha doing the same on the other side.

“I really like, ah... stupid action flicks? And this series is like, the epitome of stupid action flicks, my _word_ do they get insane—and all the fun of watching them is in making fun of how ridiculous they are.” He takes a deep breath. “The problem is that you need to watch the first movie, and... the first movie is actually pretty good.”

“Aha, so this is a setup! A gateway drug, if you will.” Tim grins up at him. Martin smiles back, a little sheepish, a little knowing. 

“Mayhaps,” he says, and there’s a teasing note to his voice. 

The movie turns out to be _Resident Evil,_ which Tim had studiously avoided previously—on account of having played the games, and loving them very dearly. But the movie doesn’t seem to actually follow the game plotline—like, at all—which is something of a relief. 

Sasha and Jon in criticize the technology, possibility of zombification, and intelligence of the characters in turns. More than once it devolves into simply shouting frustratedly at a character making a stupid, cliche decision. 

Tim is a bit worried, at first, that they’re bothering Martin during his movie—but after a few minutes of nerves Martin cheerfully joins in the heckling. Tim has never heard such an in-depth discussion on the inner workings of zombies in his _life,_ but that does nothing to stop him from putting in his own two cents, which Sasha and Jon quickly refute in near-unison while Martin makes a noncommittal sound and a so-so motion with his hands. 

“Since when are you all experts on zombies?” Tim huffs. 

“Since you decided to insinuate that their brains had decayed past the point of neurological activity being possible,” Martin shrugs in return. “Zombification just wouldn’t be conceivable without some form of neurons firing. They don’t have to be neurons as we know them to be, but neurological activity is required for them to even move, not to mention have the drive to spread their disease.” 

“Eeeeeexactly,” Sasha sings, and Jon nods in decisive agreement. 

“Well la-dee-da,” Tim raises his hands in mock surrender. 

“Don’t you la-dee-da me, mister,” Sasha reaches over Martin to poke Tim in the arm. _Hard._

“Ow!”

“You... brought that on yourself,” Martin glances down at him unsympathetically.

“Traitors, the whole lot of you,” Tim mutters, but he’s grinning anyway.

There’s a lull in the sound. They’ve run out of movies, but the archives and the darkness both inside and out still weigh down upon them, oppressive. As does the growing unsureness of Martin and Jon.

It’s a good thing Tim brought a backup movie just for this instance! 

It’s nothing of note—a generic comedy film. It’s probably got Adam Sandler somewhere in there. It doesn’t matter.

What’s important, is that it’s white noise. Something for everyone to focus on other than literally everything else.

(Never let it be said that Timothy Stoker doesn’t come prepared.)

Martin is, surprisingly, the first to fall. Tim would’ve thought Martin’s own nerves would get the better of him, but—maybe it’s not so surprising. He’s been functioning on the edge of collapse for the past few weeks, after all. And here, among people who care about him—or at least, really would very much like to keep him alive—he can actually be... safe.

Ugh. It must be nearing 1am, Tim’s getting sappy. 

Sasha’s next, which isn’t surprising at all. He’d actually expected her to go first—she’s the type to usually go to bed at a decent time of night, like some sort of human being. She’s pressed into Martin’s side like the octopus she is when she’s particularly tired. 

It’s a competition now, between Tim and Jon. But Tim knows that Jon’s spent the past few days pulling near all-nighters at the Institute since the worm debacle began, and even Jonathan Sims himself can’t keep that up forever. 

Jon’s still pressed into the arm of the couch, curled up into as small of a ball as he can manage, but Tim counts it as a win anyway. He can’t help but make the comparison to earning a cat’s trust—how they’ll curl up juuuust next to you but not quite touching you, like they can’t admit to wanting company.

Yeah, Tim’s been awake for too long. Now he’s getting loopy. 

But first—blackmail. Or maybe fond memories, who knows?

The light from the projected screen is adequate for his phone’s camera, thankfully, and he skillfully settles back down in his spot on the couch without a fuss.

He blinks.

It’s light. A dim light, but it’s always dim in the archives. 

Sasha is standing in front of the couch, collecting her own blackmail. Tim tiredly poses with a peace sign, and she giggles quietly and takes another photo. 

Jon and Martin won’t be waking up anytime soon, not with that kind of exhaustion—so Sasha and Tim settle back, pulling out their phones, and text each other plans to do this again.

**Author's Note:**

> Monty Python’s humor is such a perfect blend of smart and stupid that I think Tim was charmed immediately. He is a huge nerd and I cannot be convinced otherwise 
> 
> Sasha’s love for Star Trek was mostly based off of vibes, but she will defend it to the death.
> 
> Guy Ritchie movies are absolutely up Jon’s alley, and I will die on this hill, lol
> 
> Martin probably loves shows like Mystery Science Theatre 3000, where there’s no getting attached to any characters or investment in a plot, just good old fashioned making fun of things and laughter. 
> 
> I just.... I just want them to be friends and have the happiness they deserve. curse the fact that I get emotionally invested in fiction !!!


End file.
